Cook decision on hold; Helton escapes serious injury

PHOENIX – Though Aaron Cook was pain free after throwing 50 pitches in a simulated game today, there are no guarantees Cook will be the starter Thursday against the Padres.

Manager Jim Tracy made that clear in today’s pre-game session with the media. Tracy said he won’t make a final decision until next week.

There are a number of options:
* Cook could start Thursday against the Padres, pushing back Jason Hammel’s start by a day.
* Hammel would make the start Thursday on normal rest and Cook would pitch against the Cardinals on Friday.
* It could be veteran Jose Contreras, not Cook, who re-enters the rotation. Contreras is recovering faster than anticipated from a strained quadriceps muscle.
* The Rockies could use both Cook and Contreras in the same game.

Cook made it clear that he wants to start, but added that he will contribute any way possible.

“I felt g-o-o-d,” Cook kidded. “Seriously, I felt really good. I would like to start, but I’m going to do whatever the club needs.”

Cook said there is no soreness in his right shoulder and believes his velocity is good.

“They guys I faced today all said I looked fine,” Cook said. “We didn’t have a (radar) gun on me or anything, but I felt like I was throwing hard.”

A clean-shaven Todd Helton (see my online news story about Helton’s decision to axe his trademark goatee) is back in the starting lineup tonight after a scary moment in Friday night’s game.

In the ninth, Helton was sitting in the dugout when a foul ball off Carlos’ Gonzalez’s bat came screaming into the dugout. The ball caught Helton flush in the left shin, leaving him numb from the shin bone down through his foot. Helton’s much better today, but the incident left Tracy a little shaken.

“The ball hit Todd so hard that it completely numbed him up from the shin to his foot. He had no feeling in his foot,” Tracy said. “If that inning was extended last night and we got to his spot in the order, I don’t even know if he could have even taken an at-bat. But he has absolutely no issues coming into tonight.

Then Tracy added: “Somebody was looking our for us, because if that ball was higher and hit him in the chest or the face, we have serious, serious problems. We don’t have our first baseman. He’s done.”

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game as the Rockies attempt to get back on track. They enter the game three games up on the Giants in the wild-card race after the Giants and starter Brad Penny were hammered 12-1 by the Dodgers today.